Six -- count 'em -- six teams are off this week, which will at least make the standings easier to read. Unless you're used to reading baseball standings and seeing the Baltimore Orioles 30.5 games back. Speaking of Baltimore, the Ravens are one of the teams off this week, along with the Texans, Cardinals, Lions, Seahawks and Chiefs. We still have 13 games on the ledger, however, including some business getting sorted out in the NFC East ...

The Eagles travel to Dallas in what amounts to a huge game. Phllly can't afford to drop to 1-3 in the division. Chris' Bears play a rare contest in San Diego on Monday night, which would qualify as a must-win for both teams. And those aren't even the attractive matchups. We also have the Broncos at Colts, Dolphins at Bills and Packers at Panthers. Good stuff. And don't forget, you can drop a line about any of these matchups, and I will answer with football or Star Trek. @HarrisonNFL is the place.

Now, let's get to it!

Elliot Harrison went 9-5 on his predictions for Week 8, giving him a record of 73-46 so far this season. How will he fare in Week 9? His picks are below.

Sunday1 PM ETFOX2017

Interesting matchup.
Aaron Rodgers, coming off
a loss to the Broncos in which he notched a career low -- at least, among games he started and finished standing up -- with 77 passing yards, faces a
Panthers defense that is usually stout. However, at the end of Carolina's
crazy Monday night win over the
Colts, that unit didn't even appear to be as stout as a Lime-A-Rita, much less a Guinness. The
Panthers sorely miss
Charles Johnson, and they'll have trouble getting after Rodgers if Green Bay goes four wide, utilizing
James Jones,
Randall Cobb,
Davante Adams and
Ty Montgomery. Spreading them out, the
Packers extinguish the longest active winning streak -- Carolina has won 11 straight regular-season games going back to last season -- in the NFL.

Not-so-fun fact: Cobb, who was supposed to be the WR1 in this offense following
Jordy Nelson's preseason knee injury, has just 132 receiving yards and zero touchdowns over his last four games. Maybe that shoulder is still bothering him.
#GBvsCAR

Sunday1 PM ETFOX4417

Wouldn't it be so characteristic of the 2015 season -- during which seemingly
anything can happen -- if the
Patriots were to fall to the
Redskins? No. The
Kirk Cousins magic fails to capture the NFL's version of Mordor. Washington might keep it close for three quarters at Gillette, but given that the
Redskins' strength is its front seven, this matchup is not ripe for an upset. New England has proven it can win without running (
see: Week 7), and while
Tom Brady has been sacked 18 times, it's come in 307 dropbacks.

Crazy stat: New England has won 20 of its last 22 games, playoffs included, outscoring opponents by 14.9 points per game over that span. So much for parity, right?
#WASvsNE

Crazy stat: Whisenhunt was 4-31 over his last 35 games. Interim head coach Mike Mularkey is 16-32 lifetime. Get excited.
#TENvsNO

Sunday1 PM ETCBS3423

Buffalo scores a defensive touchdown late to seal the deal on a mostly competitive day at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The predicted final score here is not an indictment of Miami interim coach Dan Campbell -- rather, it reflects
the expected return of Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who was having a fine season before missing two games with a knee injury. When blitzed, Taylor has compiled a respectable 97.2 passer rating, while taking off seven times for a whopping 107 yards. With
Cameron Wakedone for the season, Miami will be forced to bring pressure. As for
Dolphins QB
Ryan Tannehill, will those slip screens and crossing routes that
failed in New England work in Buffalo?

Part of me wants to pick the
Rams to pull off the (minor) upset, but that outcome is too difficult to reach. St. Louis should be able to get traction on the
Vikings' run defense, which has been so-so thus far this season (ranking
15th in rushing yards allowed and
tied for 24th in yards allowed per carry). The real concern for St. Louis -- outside of
Todd Gurley's workload -- is this: Will
Nick Foles be able to make the Minnesota back seven pay for creeping up to stop the run? Mike Zimmer's squad is
ninth against the pass. The only thing the
Vikings aren't doing? Picking off the other QBs' throws (four picks,
tied for 22nd). I like the home team in this battle of would-be wild-card squads.

Historical symmetry: This one has major playoff implications. Did you know these two teams have met seven times in the postseason, including two NFC Championship Games (1974 and 1976)? Minnesota won both.
#STLvsMIN

Sunday1 PM ETCBS2613

Jacksonville is fresh off a bye, while the
Jets are returning home from their 3,000-mile trek to Oakland
with a silver-and-black eye. Still, this is not a good matchup for the
Jaguars, whose offense has thrived because of their wideouts. Yes,
Raiders QB
Derek Carr had success against Gang Green last week, but Carr is more consistent than Jacksonville's
Blake Bortles, who will find the windows tight against a
Jets defense highly motivated to put that poor outing behind them.

Pittsburgh holds on to keep its postseason goals within sight, even if the AFC North title is now out of reach.
DeAngelo Williams will see a similar workload to what he got filling in for
Le'Veon Bell in
Weeks 1and 2, when the 10th-year pro showed much pop for, well, a 10th-year pro. Williams produced 224 yards from scrimmage and three ground scores total against the
Patriots and
49ers. The
Raiders' loss here says less about them than it does about a
Steelers team rallying to save its season at home.

Fun fact: The
Steelers have tackled receivers as soon as they've caught the ball 40 times this season, most in the league. And as maligned as the secondary was last season, Pittsburgh was second in the NFL in that category last year. #tackling
#OAKvsPIT

Sunday4:05 PM ETFOX2824

Big Blue's
win one, lose one season continues.
Eli Manning might not find the same kind of patchwork back seven in Tampa that he
scorched in New Orleans, but the
Giants should still scratch out enough offense to take a close game on the road. The Bucs should provide
Jameis Winston ample time in the pocket, given the
Giants' absentee pass rush. But Winston will have to throw for a lot more than the 177 and 6.1 yards per attempt
he managed in Atlanta to keep up in a mini track meet.

Fun fact: The Bucs' last postseason game -- which was also Jon Gruden's -- came at home versus the
Giants and
Eli Manning in the 2007 playoffs. New York, of course, went on to win the
Super Bowl.
#NYGvsTB

Fantasy note: Freeman has been
dominant in fantasy this season -- he's
No.1 among RBs and has more than
twice as many fantasy points as the seventh-best RB.
#ATLvsSF

Sunday4:25 PM ETCBS1713

Everyone circled this matchup on the calendar
two years ago, when it marked
Peyton Manning's first game in Indianapolis wearing another uniform. The
Colts won that night on the strength of their pass rush. Then, in the 2014 playoffs, Indy's pass coverage
won the day in Denver ... ultimately leading, it would seem, to coach John Fox's ouster by the
Broncos.
Andrew Luck fared OK in that contest. This week, Indy's new face of the organization can't afford to be mediocre against a Denver defense that leads the NFL in
points per game allowed,
yards per gameand sacks. Speaking of faces, we've seen the Peyton face aplenty after horrible throws this season. And then we get the smiling face of 7-0. Make that 8-0.

Fun fact: Only one NFL quarterback has a lower passer rating than Luck's 71.6:
Ryan Mallett, who is not currently employed as an NFL quarterback.
#DENvsIND

Sunday8:30 PM ETNBC1714

Dallas finally gets a W sans
Tony Romo. Why? Because the
Cowboys' defense is balling. The
Seahawks could barely get any offense going until the final drive
last Sunday. Granted, Seattle's offense sucks. Consider that the same
Giants attack that put up 40-plus points
in New Orleans scored all of one offensive touchdown -- at home -- against Big D's D
in Week 7. The return of
Greg Hardy and
Rolando McClain from suspension has bolstered the pass rush and the depth. Now, we should mention that this is the
DeMarco Murray Revenge Game. Here it is ... #58yards #getexcited

Relevant stat: For all the
Tony Romo haters out there, this Bud's for you: Since he was named the
Cowboys' starter, they're 77-48 with him and 6-14 without. Read that again.
#PHIvsDAL

Historical symmetry:Philip Rivers is on pace to finish with 486 completions and 5,506 yards. Not only would those set new single-season NFL records, but they would top the all-time career bests of the man he replaced in the QB chair in San Diego.
Drew Brees had 468 completions -- the current record -- and 5,476 yards for the
Saints in 2011.
#CHIvsSD